The summer in Qixi has not yet ended. The post road on the hilly slopes is littered with gravel. Both sides of the road are covered with various shrubs and wild onions. The center of the road is slightly raised, and there are bunches of plantains like wild and fluffy hair.
There is a post station on the top of the slope, called Chihe Post, so named because it is close to the source of Chihe River. The post station is a small military fortress built of rammed earth, surrounded by high walls, with crenels and watchtowers, and stables in the fort.
, there are dozens of warehouses and inns, large and small, which can provide caravan accommodation for more than a hundred people at the same time.
The postmaster walked around the earthen wall road every morning, and then climbed up to the watchtower of the post station. He looked around from high up and had a panoramic view of the vibrant Populus euphratica forest all around.
I'm tired of seeing this kind of scenery too much, so I might as well go back to the house and hug my wife and go back to sleep. Just as the postmaster was about to turn around and leave, he saw a drunken veteran walking up the road, swaying on his horse and raising his head high.
He dropped the last drop of wine from the gourd into his mouth, still smacking his lips.
The postmaster frowned. What he hated most was the prostitutes on the Anxi Post Road. They were all very difficult to deal with. If he hadn't been in the military and had experienced battles, he wouldn't have let these bastards get on top of him.
In the yard of the inn, a scholar had just led the thin horse into the stable, took off the bamboo basket from the horse, carried it on his back, and headed towards the thatched hall, the main building of the inn.
When the scholar came to the foot of the thatched hall, he saw a postman standing on the steps with his hands folded across his chest. The scholar took the initiative to step forward and cupped his hands and asked: "May I ask the military master, I want to stay in our posthouse, is there any free posthouse?"
The postman lowered his head and glanced at the scholar, and asked coldly: "Is there an official document to sue you?"
"Nothing."
"Are there any official customs and defense documents?"
"nor."
"What about the household registration color?"
"There is a color note in the household registration. Wait a minute, Master, I will show it to you." The scholar had just taken the bamboo basket off his shoulder, but the postman waved his hand: "No need, I see you are a scholar, stay here for one day.
You give me three hundred yuan, plus food and drink."
"So expensive?" The scholar asked with his mouth wide open in astonishment: "A room in a hotel in Qiuci City cost only two hundred yuan at most!"
"Scared!" The postman sneered with his eyes closed: "If it's too expensive, why don't you go back to Kucha City and stay at an inn? What are you doing here in the wilderness? I invited you here?"
The scholar suddenly became angry: "You are such a greedy postman! I, the Governor of Anxi, set up a post station to deliver official documents and facilitate passing merchants. Who taught you to charge such a large price to make money!"
The postman was confident and said angrily: "You are a scholar, but you are so ignorant of good and evil. I saw that you are a scholar, so I gave you accommodation and convenience. You damn thing think I want more, five hundred dollars, you can't live with me."
!”
"I can tell you! There are barbarians and bandits in this area during the day, and wolves appear at night. If you have the guts, go outside and deal with them all night!"
"Okay, okay!" The scholar turned pale with anger and pointed at the postman and said, "Call your postmaster here. I want to ask him how he opened such a high-priced posthouse!"
"Boss!" the postman yelled at the top of the thatched hall at the top of his lungs.
A soldier leaned out from the railing on the roof and cursed at the top of his lungs: "Fan San, you are a coward, what did you ask me to do!"
The postman raised his neck high, crossed his arms and said, "There is a poor man here who wants to see you. He thinks you have set the accommodation price too high."
The postmaster only glanced sideways at the scholar, and then said coldly: "Don't bother me with this kind of nonsense. If you can't afford it, tell him to get out."
"Hey!" Before the scholar had time to speak, the postmaster had already left in front of the fence on the roof.
The postman stared at the scholar and said sarcastically: "So, are you still staying?"
The scholar's anger subsided, he lifted the bamboo basket and said with a helpless smile: "Well, I won't live in the inn anymore. I'll find a corner in this yard to spend the night."
"Two hundred dollars!" The postman was successful and sneered at the scholar's naivety: "As long as you enter this Chihe Post and are protected by our post, you have to pay, two hundred for the open air and five hundred for living in the post.
Money, pay up or get out, I find it really hard to talk to you poor people."
The scholar was not angry but smiled: "Okay, five hundred is five hundred, I'll pay for it!"
He opened the tarpaulin of the bamboo basket, took out a cloth bag from inside, put it in the palm of his hand and opened three layers in succession, then picked out the smaller one from several pieces of broken silver, wrapped the rest and put it back into the bamboo basket, and stretched out his hand.
Throw it to the postman.
The postman's hand in grabbing the money was also very nimble, and he grabbed the broken silver in his hand.
"My silver weighs half a tael. You can give me three hundred coins."
"Don't worry, I'll weigh the money for you right now. We're innocent in this regard, and we won't give you a penny less. Okay, come in and have a rest. I'll arrange it for you later."
Inn."
The postman weighed the scraps of silver in his hand and said bitterly: "This man is a bitch. Just now I asked you for three hundred yuan and you couldn't bear it. You can't do the same if you don't pay the price of five hundred yuan."
Have you moved in?"
The scholar snorted heavily and walked toward the thatched hall with the bamboo basket on his back. However, he stopped as soon as he stepped onto the steps. He turned around and saw a Luotuo soldier carrying a wine gourd and a horizontal sword at his waist.
He stood at the door and turned around, glanced at Li Siye who was pretending to be a soldier, and then at the postman. He simply sat on the bamboo basket, curious about how the postman would respond.
Li Siye rushed straight into the thatched hall with a wine gourd in his arms. The postman quickly stood in front of him with his belly raised: "Hey, what's the matter with you? Why are you forcing your way in?"
He raised his head and squinted in a drunken manner: "Why, you won't let me in this inn?"
"Let me ask you, is there an official ultimatum to sue you?"
"No."
"Do you have any official documents with you?"
Li Siye pulled out the horizontal sword from his waist with a swipe, held it in his hand and said, "I, this sword is an official document!"
The postman's expression suddenly changed and he shouted to Li Siye: "Don't do this to me. Let me tell you, I've seen too many people like you!"
"Someone is making trouble at the door!"
Three or four postmen rushed out from the thatched hall, holding broad-bladed knives in their hands. Two on the left and two on the right seemed to be outflanking them.
"Hey, these little postmen dare to attack me! Let me tell you, when I was fighting for my life with the Tuqishi people on the battlefield, you guys were still peeing and playing in the mud!"
The postman grinned and said disdainfully: "These two sentences again. Can't you stinky soldiers come up with something new?"
"Okay, I'll give you something fresh today. I need money, but I don't have it! I only have one life, and I will deal with you here today!"
Li Siye and the postmen were in a stalemate on the spot. The other party only cursed the soldiers, but refused to get close to them.
The post leader suddenly laughed out loud, waved his hand and said: "Forget it, forget it, it's only a hundred and ten dollars, you can keep it until you die and buy a coffin."
The postmen all breathed a sigh of relief and took back their swords and returned to the thatched hall. Li Siye also put the sword back into its sheath and snorted: "Your grandpa, I won't die. You kid wants to inherit my sword."
The knife will have to wait for another ten years."
The postman snorted and refused to quarrel with such a bastard. He has been working in this post for many months and has met a lot of barbarians and Han people in the east and west. This bastard in the Anxi army is the most difficult to deal with.
Tangle, scare those who can be frightened, and those who cannot be frightened are ruthless people who are indifferent.
Li Siye strode into the thatched hall. There were already many businessmen inside, most of whom were sitting on the floor. Four or five people gathered around a thick four-legged table. These Persian and Sogdian merchants looked at him fearfully and quickly turned their eyes.
Hide under the veil to avoid misfortune.
The forest is big and there are all kinds of birds, and there are indeed a lot of scum in the Anxi army. Li Siye is role-playing, and he has the charm of a 70-80% adult.
The scholar played by Zhang Yuanli walked in with a bamboo basket and sat in front of another desk not far from him. Although he was acting in his true role, he was still a bit out of character. At this moment, his expression was gloomy, as if he had been hit by reality.
The posture of the lost scholar is somewhat similar.